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Alex Ross Perry was approached to make a documentary about Pavement. There was a slight hitch: The band kinda sorta did not want a documentary made about them. Or rather, they didn’t want one of those things where fans of the band talk about how amazing the quintet were, in between archival concert footage and Behind the Music-style interviews and cute animated transitions and all that jazz. The group had announced their first show in a decade, set to happen in 2020 — only to have the pandemic shut the world down.

Alex Ross Perry’s 2019 backstage rock drama Her Smell is bookmarked by cutaways to faux-documentary video footage, capturing its fictional 1990s alternative group in moments of camera-friendly bliss. Placed next to the emotional apocalypse that comprises most of the rest of the film’s runtime, the supposedly “real” Behind the Music-style footage can’t help but feel like an obfuscation of the band’s true story.

Perry avoids such pitfalls with Pavements, a docu-fiction about indie rock titans Pavement. The band’s legendary status, quickly achieved in the early ’90s indie underground, has always felt somewhat at odds with the sense of shaggy self-effacement that their critics often mistook for a conscious lack of effort. Wisely anticipating that the traditional rock-doc format would be a poor fit for such a group, Perry has crafted a far less easily classifiable tribute.

Pavements pulls together at least four different strands for its...

Out of Stockton, California, came a band in the late 80s that would help shape the sound of alt-rock for decades to come. Pavement blended melody with experimentalism, crafting songs that were equal parts witty and weird. Led by the laconic Stephen Malkmus and alongside musicians like Scott Kannberg and Bob Nastanovich, they became icons of the 90s underground scene.

Now director Alex Ross Perry pays tribute to Pavement in a uniquely unconventional documentary. More than just concert footage or interviews, his movie celebrates the band’s 2022 reunion through a plethora of creative projects. We see rehearsals for their tour alongside scenes from a faux biopic and an off-Broadway musical based on their songs. But this is no straightforward recap—Perry plays with the lines between fact and fiction, mirroring Pavement’s own subversive spirit.

With its blend of archival material, staged scenes, and made-for-the-movie elements, the film takes an...

The question Alex Ross Perry asked himself before embarking on the mad, four-faced project that is “Pavements” was: “What if Pavement was the most important band of all time?” It’s a fun idea, and Perry’s commitment to the bit cannot be questioned. An off-Broadway jukebox musical named after their breakthrough debut studio album “Slanted and Enchanted,” a fake “Bohemian Rhapsody”-style biopic starring Joe Keery and Jason Schwartzman, a museum exhibition Perry helped devise and that brims with mostly unimportant memorabilia, and an actual documentary all exist in service of “Pavements.” If the assignment in making a film about Pavement was part sincere, part fuck-you, a dash of incoherent anti-establishment thought and a tablespoon of self-indulgence, “Pavements” understands it perfectly. Making a film about the band any other way seems like a complete waste of time.

Perry frames Pavement as a protest band, and that’s sort of true.

More than 30 summers have passed since Pavement filmed a music video for “Summer Babe,” but now they have decided to release it. The clip shows three of the group’s five members performing the song on a pier in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

In a statement, the clip’s director, Tanya Small, said they held onto the clip for so long because of the absence of multi-instrumentalist Spiral Stairs and drummer Gary Young, who were both in Stockton, California at the time.

“The story line for the video is the same as...

Willie Aames, best known for his teen actor roles in Eight is Enough and Charles in Charge, is set to star alongside Natalie Grace in the dark comedy Armageddon Road.

The indie, written, directed and produced by Karen Lam, is shooting in British Columbia. Set in Las Vegas in 1976, Armageddon Road follows a hapless ex-con hired by a mob boss to chauffeur his girlfriend for an evening, only to find his passenger dies of a cocaine overdose.

After her body is taken over by one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the driver is convinced to take her to what will be Armageddon in the Nevada desert. Opiate Pictures Inc. and Black Moon Media are producing the film that will use miniature sets created by Gary Young (Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, The Predator and Godzilla) to be projected on an LED volume wall the actors will use as a backdrop for their performances.

Pavement have announced a new box set titled Cautionary Tales: Jukebox Classiques, which will contain the band’s complete catalog of 7-inch singles released from 1989 through 1999. The collection is out digitally as of today, with physical editions due this summer.

Offering a comprehensive overview of Pavement’s output — including “every hit, non-hit, b-side, and R.E.M. tribute… that anybody bothered to press to a 7-inch single” — the tracklist features songs like “Harness Your Hopes,” “Spit on a Stranger,” “Gold Soundz,” “Range Life,” and more across 18 total records. Stream the album and see the full tracklist below.

Physical copies of Cautionary Tales: Jukebox Classiques will be available only to those who pre-order the collection. Pre-orders began today, and will be ongoing until April 22nd. After that, fans who ordered can expect their box sets to arrive by July 12th. Check out an unboxing video below.

In addition to the music,...

Sound Unseen, the music documentary festival held in Minneapolis, is returning with a slew of rock docs including Alison Ellwood’s Cyndi Lauper film Let the Canary Sing and the North American premiere of Peter Doherty: Stranger In My Own Skin about the Libertines co-founder.

The 24th iteration of the festival runs between November 8-12.

Let The Canary Sing will open the festival on Wednesday November 8 and Katia de Vidas’s Doherty film closes the festival on Sunday November 12.

“We’re thrilled to be bringing some of the best and most buzzed about music documentaries and fiction films of the year to Minneapolis”, said Sound Unseen Festival Director Jim Brunzell. “The entire team has done an incredible job and after the success of last year’s festival, we hope the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota audiences will bring the same energy and excitement to Sound Unseen more than ever.”

Federation...

Gary Young, the influential and enigmatic drummer on Pavement’s earliest releases including their 1992 debut album Slanted and Enchanted, has died at 70. He passed away at his home in Stockton, as confirmed by his wife Geri Bernstein Young.

Young was born on May 3rd, 1953 in Mamaroneck, New York. After touring in punk bands and working as a talent booker through the ’80s, the ex-hippie settled down in Stockton, California where he eventually crossed paths with Pavement founding members Stephen Malkmus and Scott “Spiral Stairs” Kannberg in 1989. Young offered to play drums for the duo while producing a session at his home studio Louder Than You Think that resulted in Pavement’s 1989 debut EP Slay Tracks: 1933–1969. After the release gained traction, Young was enlisted to produce and perform on their follow-up EP’s, 1990’s Demolition Plot J-7 and 1991’s Perfect Sound Forever.

As Pavement launched into a full-fledged touring band, Young...

Gary Young, the original drummer for pioneering indie-rock band Pavement, has died at the age of 70.

Frontman Stephen Malkmus confirmed Young’s death on social media Thursday. “Gary Young passed on today,” he wrote. “Gary’s pavement drums were ‘one take and hit record’…. Nailed it so well.”

Malkmus and guitarist Scott “Spiral Stairs” Kannberg formed Pavement in 1989 in their hometown of Stockton, California. That year, they recorded their first EP at a small studio in Stockton owned by Young, the colorful local who would soon become the band’s first drummer.

“I took LSD 375 times.” These are the first words said in “Louder than You Think” by subject Gary Young — drummer, producer, drunkard, and all-around enigma, likely best known as being the original drummer for the lo-fi 90’s alternative band, Pavement. The words, accompanied by the image of Young as he appears now, are all you need to understand the kind of documentary you’re in for – one hell of a strange trip, man.

Continue reading ‘Louder Than You Think’ Review: Pavement’s Former Drummer, Gary Young, Gets His Filthy and Delightfully Quirky Day in the Sun [SXSW] at The Playlist.

When it comes to music documentaries, the bar is low—some new footage, a long-unseen live performance, maybe a fresh anecdote or two—and yet rarely cleared. For Pavement fans, though, Louder Than You Think will be essential viewing. The trim 90 minutes tell the story of the band’s original drummer, Gary Young, also the engineer of their first sessions at the Stockton, California record studio from which the film gets its name. It’s no secret that Young was essentially kicked out of the band for his heavy drinking habit, which is still on full display in this film; throughout his interviews, Young […]

The post “Never Delete Your Old Footage”: Jed I. Rosenberg on Pavement Documentary Louder Than You Think first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

When it comes to music documentaries, the bar is low—some new footage, a long-unseen live performance, maybe a fresh anecdote or two—and yet rarely cleared. For Pavement fans, though, Louder Than You Think will be essential viewing. The trim 90 minutes tell the story of the band’s original drummer, Gary Young, also the engineer of their first sessions at the Stockton, California record studio from which the film gets its name. It’s no secret that Young was essentially kicked out of the band for his heavy drinking habit, which is still on full display in this film; throughout his interviews, Young […]

The post “Never Delete Your Old Footage”: Jed I. Rosenberg on Pavement Documentary Louder Than You Think first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Ls Films’ slate also includes ’I Am Irvine Welsh’ about the ‘Trainspotting’ author.

Ls Films is expanding its Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) world premiere short Little Warrior into a feature entitled Pequena Guerrera.

The story is about a young female boxer, Johana Gomez of Venezuela, who works remotely with Scottish boxing trainer Gary Young, to follow her dreams of Olympic glory. Screen Scotland is supporting the feature’s development.

Little Warrior, which was commissioned by Guardian Documentaries, premieres Saturday (August 20) at Eiff during a special event that will also include a discussion with director Paul Sng, producer Sarah Drummond,...

As the war between Russia and Ukraine closes out its fourth month, displaced Ukrainians continue to make their way to safe-haven countries, most without any guaranteed prospects of work.

Diana Olifirova — a Kyiv-born and London-based cinematographer — saw the gap that was widening between refugees and the need for work and set about organizing a London networking event that connected recently relocated Ukrainian film and TV professionals with established London industry folk.

On Monday, before the doors even opened at the Cvp & Arri Creative Space, a dozen Ukrainian film industry professionals were already waiting outside, seemingly eager for the evening to begin.

“It’s important to connect people and not neglect introductions,” said Olifirova whose recent credits include Netflix’s “Heartstopper” and Channel 4/Peacock’s BAFTA-winning “We Are Lady Parts.” Olifirova was astutely aware of the influx of fellow Ukrainians as they reached out to her for connections and possible work.

The film aims to start shooting in January 2020.

The UK’s Marsha Thomason has signed to star in Gary Young’s action thriller Stolen which is set to start shooting in the UK and South Africa in January 2020.

Thomason, who has appeared in Us TV series including Fox’s White Collar, FX’s Better Things and ABC’s The Good Doctor, will play an ex-military officer and single mother who runs a private security business and is drawn into the investigation in to her daughter’s involvement in a fatal shooting while on holiday in South Africa.

Us actor Michael Landes will co-star,...

Young’s second feature will be action thriller Stolen, a UK-South Africa co-production.

Netflix has acquired SVoD rights for all English-speaking territories for Gary Young’s British thriller Two Graves, which it will launch on the service in May 2019. Front Row has acquired Mena rights. Moviehouse Entertainment handles international sales.

Young wrote and directed Two Graves as his feature directorial debut; he previously wrote the Michael Caine-starring Harry Brown. The revenge thriller stars Katie Jarvis, Cathy Tyson, Dave Johns, David Hayman, Josh Herdman and Danielle Harold. Tyson (Mona Lisa) plays a mother trying to uncover the circumstances behind her son’s brutal death.

Clare Anyiam-Osigwe’s No Shade, produced by the Festival, to open the event.

The 2018 British Urban Film Festival (June 4-9) has announced its line-up, hosts and awards today.

The festival will open with writer-director Clare Anyiam-Osigwe’s No Shade, about a British woman coming to terms with her relationships with men and her skintone, starring Adele Oni in her debut lead role. It is the first feature to be released by the Festival under its new Buff Originals slate.

The closing night film is the festival premiere of Harry Brown writer Gary Young’s directorial debut Two Graves, a revenge...

Outlander The Doldrums Review Starz’s Outlander: Season 3, Episode 9: The Doldrums, like the France episodes of Season 2, expanded the scope of Outlander once more while also showcasing why Yi Tien Cho / Mr. Willoughby (Gary Young) was a salient character. When Mr. Willoughby was introduced on Outlander, the [...]

Continue reading: TV Review: Outlander: Season 3, Episode 9: The Doldrums [Starz]...

Looks like Droughtlander is gonna last a wee bit longer than expected.

Outlander‘s third season will premiere in September, Starz announced Wednesday. The premium cabler did not provide an exact date for the series’ return.

PhotosTeam TVLine Shares Its 2017 Wish List for Outlander and More of Your Favorite Shows

September will be the latest point in the year that the drama has premiered. Season 1 bowed in August 2014, and Season 2 got its start in April 2016.

The 13-episode third season will feature episodes shot in Scotland and South Africa; the latter will stand in for Caribbean locales that show up in...

Michael Nouri is turning the page in his career.

The Damages alum is set to play Penthouse founder Bob Guccione Sr. in Discovery Channel’s forthcoming ‘Unabomber’ series Manifesto, TVLine has learned exclusively. Guccione famously offered to publish the manifesto written by Ted “Unabomber” Kaczynski (played by Paul Bettany).

Additionally, Ben Weber (Secret Life of the American Teenager) has joined the cast of the Greg Yaitanes-helmed project as Andy Genelli, the former head of the Unabomomber Task Force.

Ready for more of today’s newsy nuggets? Well…

* Former CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric is returning to the network...

“Outlander” has found its Mr. Willoughby and Captain Leonard for Season 3, Starz announced Monday. Gary Young who will play Mr. Willoughby, a confidante of Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), while Charlie Hiett will play Captain Thomas Leonard, the inexperienced, by-the-book de facto captain of the Artemis, the ship Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie sail on into the West Indies. Season 3 will be based on the third of eight books in the “Outlander” series, entitled “Voyager.” It picks up right after Claire travels through the stones to return to her life in 1948, the pay-tv cable channel said. Now pregnant, she...